Pitchfork BEST NEW ALBUMS 2013 ...so far! ;)

mikal cronin

i listened to 4 of these. of those mbv clearly wins in front of kurt vile, julia holter and boards of canada (not so great) at the end. thee are loads of great albums missing here. eg atoms for peace, pere ubu, nick cave and kt tunstall.

forest swords

yeezus v autre ne veut for me

Yeezus (#1); DJ Koze / Jon Hopkins (tied for #2);

modern vampys

Yeezus

Modern Vampires of the Cities!

VW and MBV are on my list, Waxahatchee and Run the Jewels are OK, The Knife too. gtfo re Savages and the National

Yeezus is definitely my most-listened-to in this list, didn't see it at first.

What about Disclosure? That's the other 9-pointer. That one any good?

Haxan Cloak probably for me? Not sure.

rhye, iceage, disclosure, dirty beaches (drifters in partic), jt, kanye all great. drifters might be my favourite of all of those, a bit subdued but i played it again the other day and the vibe just slayed me, so on point & slomo. yet to hear a lot of these that i expect i'll like like vdubs, julia holter, earl. daft punk, mikal cronin both disappointing. loved one song off monomania but never listened to the whole thing more than twice, same with chance the rapper. bunch of stuff i've never even heard of like waxahatchee, haxan cloak, phosphorescent, speedy ortiz, jon hopkins... i thought i read pitchfork but i guess ive been slacking

soooooooo many 8.4's

i have only heard 7 of these (admittedly only some of which i purchased in full) and among those the only one that i really love is the jon hopkins one. kurt vile's smoke ring for my halo is one of my favorite albums from recent years and i was really excited for his new one but even that was kind of a disappointment at the end of the day.

apparently 8.4 = not that good but hey we'll throw you a bone here

VW for me probably. Run the Jewels is okay but not better than 80 Blocks from Tiffanys (which isn't even on here). I haven't bothered with a lot of these.

theres a fair amt of asap crew stuff i like but i thought long live asap was a terrible record; either that or chance the rapper is the worst here of what ive heard

fuck.
i am so not into this years pfork groove.
not yet heard any of these.

"theres a fair amt of asap crew stuff i like but i thought long live asap was a terrible record; either that or chance the rapper is the worst here of what ive heard"

A$AP Ferg's release is a notable omission.

Pitchfork lacks an editorial policy, and has been known to take part in some very unethical practices. It does not state for the record how its ratings systems work, though the best guess of many is that 7.0 is the de facto standard of what is considering a "good" record or album, let alone one that qualifies for the prestigious "Best New Music" badge. Further, many of their reviews are questionably written. Any hipster will use their logic to deny reading it, let alone influence their record-buying/pirating decisions, especially after it began its partnership with ABC. But ever since the Arcade Fire's Funeral LP, any time Pitchfork gives a "Best New Music" badge to an album from a new and upcoming band, that album's sales/downloads will significantly increase, and the band's rep will increase exponentially. It's very difficult to deny that their reviews are considered influential over the hipsters to some degree.
Keep in mind that Pitchfork reviews mostly obscure bands, though; sure, The Very Best may have gotten a boost from the positive review, but that's just because few people had heard of the album and decided not to buy it beforehand. Now, if they review the new Alice in Chains album positively and that gets a large boost, that's a different issue.
While indeed it does review more obscure bands, it still takes the time to review pop artists and such, possibly as a means to maintain credibility to the rest of the world (ABC feeds them money, apparently).

What is the best album, Whiney? Disclosure or Forest Swords?

lol tvtropes

haven't heard 'em all (notably, MBV), but for me, it's kanye v. dirty beaches v. deerhunter. winner depends on the day.

Vampy Weeks or The Knife, although Yeezus is a really compelling listen

Listening to the Forest Swords album right now to see what all the scuttlebutt is about.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Thats what i felt about both savages and baths.

koze

The Knife followed by Julia Holter and Grouper

Yikes, so many of my favorite albums has been pitchfork-faves as well. Anxiety vs Modern Vampires of the City vs Yeezus vs Sunbather vs You're Nothing. Might vote for the danes. Might not.

I really like the Boards of Canada, Charli XCX and Waxahatchee records.

booo hooo.

none of my '13 faves are on this list.

daft punk

so which are your 13 faves, mark?

Acid Rap or gtfo

I have heard 16 of these, voting for m b v.

There's a lot of albums I've heard this year that I'd prefer over many listed here... No Joy, Jacco Gardner, the new Suede etc.

And man, those Foxygen and Phosphorescent albums did absolutely fuck all for me.

TNP is the only thing on that list I've been crazy for at any point this year. spent the most time w/ Fuck Buttons cos I had to write a long review of it. Savages is great, Grouper, Iceage and Julia Holter are all worth hearing in the modern way ppl hear albums. didn't form an opinion on anything else. this is a disappointing and bad post with little of worth to say

Acid Rap by leaps and bounds

none of these are my favourite albums of 2013 and plenty of them are embarrassing

BRILLIANT BUT ALSO FLAWED: The Knife
EXTREMELY FLAWED BUT OCCASIONALLY BRILLIANT: Kanye West
NOT PERFECT BUT PRETTY GOOD: Charli XCX
ONLY JUST HEARD AND ENJOYING GETTING INTO IT: Julia Holter
AVERAGE, DECENT BUT CAN'T BRING MYSELF TO CARE: Waxahatchee, Chance The Rapper, Disclosure, Run The Jewels
KINDA BORING, TONS BETTER RELEASES IN ITS FIELD THIS YEAR: A$AP Rocky, DJ Koze, Earl Sweatshirt
VERY BORING: Justin Timberlake, Rhye, Daft Punk
ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS SHIT: Autre Ne Veut, Savages

WOULD LIKE TO HEAR: Grouper
I SPIT ON THESE TERRIBLE ACTS AND WILL GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO AVOID THEM: Deerhunter, The National, Vampire Weekend, Boards Of Canada, These New Puritans, Fuck Buttons

what are your favourite releases in the kozesphere this year lex?

(I like the idea of someone screaming ONLY JUST HEARD AND ENJOYING GETTING INTO IT btw)

SEEMS ALRIGHT SO FAR

people need to stop yelling so much. i imagine most of the people in here have hangovers so a little consideration goes a ways

what are your favourite releases in the kozesphere this year lex?

i guess this would broadly be techno/house...

maya jane coles, blondes, brandt brauer frick, darkside (nicolas jaar's new project), dj sprinkles, maxmillion dunbar, omar-s, pantha du prince & the bell laboratory, tom trago

so which are your 13 faves, mark?

my non p-fork 2013 sanctioned grooves so far :

qotsa, bowie, ghost, emika, primal scream, brmc, ashpodells, congo natty,

and the godfathers of course ...

oh sweet love most of those although I had no idea that darkside was a thing xp

sprinkles mix or remixes? love both, prefer the former only just

brmc

does this mean what I think it means

oh i was referring to the remixes comp though i'm not sure if it ~counts~ and i love both anyway

brmc

does this mean what I think it means

― Frances Ha-Ha #CUNT (wins),

yes.

it's a 2013 album that i love

Didn't realize Sprinkles had a remix comp out!

Savages album is the one here that has really grown on me the most, then Run The Jewels. Bunch of others here that I like but haven't really ended up listening to all that much and I still don't have the Julianna Barwick album yet. Think that Pitchfork are mean for not giving the Holden album a better score, that would have been a good fit for this list.

Kinda surprised Fuck Buttons trigger the hate, lex. Not that I necessarily think you'd like them, but they don't seem like the type of thing you get outraged at.

Like The Knife being your favorite of these albums and Fuck Buttons being beyond the pale seems odd to me.

Savages and Run the Jewels are two that I need to listen to again to see if I like them yet.

The biggest turd on this list is Forest Swords. The Fuck Buttons album is growing on me more than anything else. I am an old git and find this list way too conservative.

föllakzoid

This list is a catalog of "meh"

Run The Jewels was solid, so I guess that.

Vampire Weekend. That's a great album to sing harmony to while driving.

Vampire Weekend or The Knife, have listen to the Knife the most this year.

The only thing I can say for that list (other than Foxygen, which I love) is that listening to Speedy Ortiz got Spotify to inexplicably recommend Bad Sports' new album "Bras" which might actually turn out to be in my top five for the year. Maybe.

i like the rhye more than him but overall lex otm! also like the mbv and phosphorescent alot. the forest swords and jon hopkins are pleasant enough but the love they're getting is pretty mystifying to me.

Justin.

ive heard two of these records, not sure if im bragging abt how supremely above it all i am or complaining abt being older w/that

the other thing with the rhye album being here is that the quadron album is like INFINITELY better so wtf were they playing at

Kinda surprised Fuck Buttons trigger the hate, lex. Not that I necessarily think you'd like them, but they don't seem like the type of thing you get outraged at.

they're completely unlistenable

The Quadron album remains INFINITELY unavailable in Australia??? This is causing me a certain level of pain at this point.

I actually really like the Rhye album but given most of the people I trust say the Quadron album is heaps better I'm just assuming that is the case until the above cosmic injustice subsides.

This may also be the case in the US actually? Has it been released there?

Went with Tomorrow's Harvest. Of all the things on the list, I've listened to it the most. Yeezus and RAM are up there in the # of spins, but nothing listed above has tickled my amygdala as much as the BoC record.

the other thing with the rhye album being here is that the quadron album is like INFINITELY better so wtf were they playing at

― lex pretend

Yeah I agree with this. I like the Rhye album a decent amount but the Quadron album has so much more character and way stronger songs.

Am voting for Daft Punk but I have a lot of time for My Bloody Valentine, Chance the Rapper, Boards of Canada, Run the Jewels and These New Puritans. Really surprised how much I like the Puritans album considering how little I rated the last album but I'm a sucker for anything with a Spirit of Eden/Laughing Stock feel to it. I almost listed The Knife album but I just realised I don't think I've played it since the week it came out.

Rhye and Quadron albums are about on same 8/10 level to me.

Not a massive fan of Funk Buttons' thing either. They seem to be all epic gesture and spectacle but with no actual content, like a synth version of Mogwai. It's okay as a soundtrack to something else but on it's own it's just BIG without actually meaning or communicating anything at all to me.

faves = VW, MBV

like = daft punk, disclosure, kanye

heard some of it thought it was good = savages, baths, after dark 2, julia holter, dj koze

heard once, not really bothered to listen to it again = the knife, these new puritans

hate = the national

havent heard the rest

Deafheaven & MBV

I thought this thread was the title of a new Megadeth album

MBV

no contest

Grouper is a close runner up

There's some great stuff on the list elsewhere

theoretically i should love the rhye record but it all loses distinction after "open." agree that the quadron record is better but i also can't really hold that one in mind

I love that Knife record. Love Baths, love Haxan Cloak, love Julia Holter. lex otm, I'm more excited by his faves than these faves. Rhye will soon grab a big licence and you'll look back on them in 2023 the way you now look back on Postal Service.

probably the records i lost my mind the most about on this list are charli and daft punk and they both feel like they were released a million years ago at this point

kinda mad that my favorite metal record of the year got an 8.2 or something but no bnm

Sampling the ones I know nothing about at the moment and the Speedy Ortiz sounds promising three songs in.

charli xcx but this list needs more paramore, qotsa, and kacey musgraves

I guess I should listen to Acid Rap huh

naw

Acid Rap is another I have to try again. Was put off by how much he sounds like Adam Sandler the first time through.

yeah his voice is not for everyone and prob not for me. i didn't hate it but people going nuts for it is sorta incomprehensible to me

Kurt Vile = album of the year, 'Goldtone' = song of the year

lol adam sandler

I'd like to see a poll for the 8.0+ non BNM albums of the year.

Do we have a thread for Chance the Rapper/Acid Rap ?

I've been meaning to start one cause it's my favorite album of the year by far.

i like these ones:

Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt (8.4)
The Knife - Shaking the Habitual (8.4)
Kurt Vile - Waking on a Pretty Daze (8.5)
The National - Trouble Will Find Me (8.4)
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (8.8)
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (9.3)

xpost yeah it deserves a thread.

wa-lah

CHANCE THE RAPPER

Daft Punk, Julianna Barwick, Julia Holter, MBV, Knife, Jon Hopkins are all solid albums, hard to pick a favourite. Haven't heard After Dark 2 or Forest Swords but I assume I'll like them based on previous interactions.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

IT'S A RESULT!